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Procedia Engineering 84 (2014) 906 – 912

“2014 ISSST”, 2014 International Symposium on Safety Science and Technology

Experimental study on corner effect of emulsion explosive in a

curved charge based on explosion-proof application
LI Bina,b,*, BAI Chunhuaa, NI Ouqib, XIE Lifenga,b
a
State Key Laboratory of Explosion Science and Technology, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, 100081, China
b
School of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China

Abstract

Emulsion explosive is a common commercial explosive used in mining and demolition fields. As an energy output
source, many accidents happened in the manufacturing of emulsion explosives. In order to understand the
propagation process of detonation wave caused by emulsion explosive and ensure safety in manufacturing of
emulsion explosives, this paper studied corner effect of emulsion explosives (EE) experimentally via detonation
velocity measurement. In the series of experiments, obvious velocity deficits were observed during the whole
propagation of detonation wave when emulsion explosives were charged in curved. Two important charge
parameters, including curvature radius and cross section are of the charge, were investigated experimentally. Results
showed that curvature radius played a more important role in the velocity deficit of detonation wave. After
compared with that of conventional high explosives (CHE), results indicated that the corner effect acted on emulsion
explosives was more obvious than that of conventional high explosives.
©
© 2014
2014 The
The Authors.
Authors. Published
Published by
by Elsevier
Elsevier Ltd.
Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review under responsibility of scientific committee of Beijing Institute of Technology.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of scientific committee of Beijing Institute of Technology
Keywords: emulsion explosives; corner effect; curvature radius; conventional high explosives

1. Introduction

Emulsion explosives are extensively used all over the world because of good performance, water resistance and
safety. But many accidents occurred during the mixing and pumping process of emulsion explosives, causing

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +010-68914287; fax: +010-68914287.

E-mail address: wrilber@gmail.com

1877-7058 © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of scientific committee of Beijing Institute of Technology
doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2014.10.514
 Li Bin et al. / Procedia Engineering 84 (2014) 906 – 912 907

tremendous damages. Not only was the blast source ruined, but the whole production line had been destroyed by the
propagation of detonation waves through the transfer pipes [1−4].
As to conventional high explosives, corner effect of shock wave was popularly investigated. Held M [5] studied
the velocity and pressure deficits of cast TNT/RDX charge with 15/85 percentage by weight when detonation wave
propagated through sharp corners. Li Shengcai [6] investigated the diffraction of detonation wave passing around
60°, 90°, and 120° convex corners by high-speed photographic technology and results indicated that the arc that
detonation wave negotiated and the volume of dead region changed with the angle of convex corner. But for
commercial explosives, e.g. emulsion explosive, no work has been done.
This paper studied the corner effect of emulsion explosives experimentally via detonation velocity measurement.
Results obtained are useful for the design of new explosion-proof device used in the manufacturing process of
emulsion explosive to avoid the extension of accidents .

2. Conditions and apparatus of experiments

Experiments were undertaken to study corner effect of emulsion explosives which were charged in steel plates with
curved groove. Experimental conditions are as follows:

2.1. Sample and other materials

The Sample was a kind of emulsion explosive composed of 84% (by weight) ammonium nitrate, 10% water, 4%
oil (diesel oil) and 2% emulsifier (SP-80).
Experimental configuration named steel plate with curved groove had section area 300×250mm2 and thickness
30mm. The material was carbon steel #1045.

2.2. Conditions

Experiments were carried out at normal temperature and pressure (NTP). Ignition device is an ED-8 detonator.

2.3. Apparatus

Detonation velocity is a main parameter to represent the power of emulsion explosives. A ZBS-10 velocity-
measuring instrument was chosen to measure the average velocity of detonation wave. This instrument is an 11-
channel, Chinese-manufactured, time interval meter. The range of each time interval is from 0.1μs−65535ms and
DC inverting technology is used in this implement, which greatly enhances the accuracy and feasibility.
Enamelled copper wires were used as shorting pins in measuring processes. Make and break of enamelled wires
gives a signal to instrument, and then the recorder records the interval time between the actions. With the time
obtained, average velocity can be calculated. To ensure the accuracy of the data obtained, processing of the plates is
very strict. The holes to install the pins are vertical-made to keep the pins inserted perpendicular to the detonation
wave front. Diameter of enamelled wire is fixed to 0.35mm, while that of the hole in the plate is 1mm, so insulted
tapes are used to wind around the wire to fix the holes well. When measuring, the distance between two holes is
measured accurately using a vernier caliper to diminish errors.
Besides velocity-measuring instrument, a precision straightedge is used to measure the length of pipe left after
experiments and photographs are taken using a common digital camera.

2.4. Test installation

The installation of steel plate was shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. A groove was machined inside the steel plate. The
908 Li Bin et al. / Procedia Engineering 84 (2014) 906 – 912

cross section of groove was rectangular shaped. Emulsion explosives were fully filled into the groove when
measuring detonation velocities of different section areas. In Fig. 1, l was the length between the adjacent holes. l1
was the length of the straight part in the groove, l2−l6 were lengths in different sections of curved part in groove
respectively. R was curvature radius, and a, b were the width and height of the cross section of the groove
respectively. There were 7 holes along the axis of bottom of the groove to mount shorting pins, named No.1 to No.7
respectively from the straight part to the end of curved part of the groove. The 6 holes in the curved part were
separated with constant angle 45°. Distance between each two holes corresponded to a time interval, and the average
velocity that detonation propagated through the distance can be calculated by the time interval obtained by
measuring instrument. Curvature radius and cross section area in the groove were varied in tests to investigate their
effects on the detonation of emulsion explosives.

Fig. 1. structure view of steel plate model. Fig. 2. working sketch of steel plate model.

In experiments, a was fixed to 14 mm, and b changed from 8mm to 12 mm with a step 1 mm. R had the fixed
values 30 mm, 35 mm, 40 mm, 45 mm and 50 mm. D was detonation velocity of emulsion explosives between two
adjacent holes and S was cross section area of the groove.

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Velocity deficits in curved part

Table 1 and Table 2 showed the detonation velocities measured using steel plate model. D was average velocity
between two adjacent holes, and D meant the average velocity between all holes in curved part of groove. Fig. 3
and Fig. 4 shows typical trends that velocities varied with growth of cross section area when R was fixed. Curvature
angles (θ) were used to represent different parts of groove (θ from 0º to 45º means the detonation wave past from the
2nd hole to 3rd hole) because curvature angle was directly proportional to arc that detonation wave negotiates.
 Li Bin et al. / Procedia Engineering 84 (2014) 906 – 912 909

Table 1. Detonation velocities with different cross section (R˙50 mm).

S Density D1-2 D2-3 D3-4 D4-5 D5-6 D6-7 D27

NO. 2 3
(mm ) (g/cm ) (m/s) (m/s) (m/s˅ (m/s) (m/s) (m/s)
(m/s)
1 112 1.21 2480 2201 1821 1422 1063 539 1409
2 126 1.22 2537 2262 1938 1689 1245 877 1602
3 140 1.24 2643 2399 2184 1932 1603 1124 1848
4 154 1.20 2776 2514 2225 1998 1687 1316 1948
5 168 1.23 2906 2734 2263 2056 1804 1456 2063

6 PP嘒 6 PP嘒 6 PP嘒 6 PP嘒 6 PP嘒 6 PP嘒

6 PP嘒 6 PP嘒
  6 PP嘒 6 PP嘒






D(m/s)



D(m/s)



 

 


      
     
θ(º)
θ(º)

Fig. 3. Detonation velocities varies with θ at different cross section Fig. 4. Detonation velocities varies with θ at different cross section
areas when R=50mm. areas when R=30mm.

Table 2. The detonation velocity with different cross section(R˙30mm).

S Density D1-2 D2-3 D3-4 D4-5 D5-6 D6-7 ΔD2-7

NO. 2 3
(mm ) (g/cm ) (m/s) (m/s) (m/s˅ (m/s) (m/s) (m/s) (m/s)

1 112 1.23 2487 1873 936 0 0 0 562

2 126 1.24 2505 1856 1123 873 0 0 770
3 140 1.26 2553 1906 1345 1012 453 0 943
4 154 1.23 2667 2103 1679 1324 1102 832 1408
5 168 1.25 2802 2331 1998 1408 1222 1007 1593

Results indicated obvious velocity deficits at any cross section area, because when detonation wave propagated
across the corner, the area of wave front had a sudden increase and the direction needed change, so some energy lost
at the corner when hitting with groove wall and varying directions. Another reason that caused this phenomenon was
the rarefaction waves generated when detonation waves hitting the groove wall reacted with detonation waves,
which changed the flow field of wave front.
In Fig. 4, it was found that last several data in some conditions were reported as zero. It was assumed that the
detonation was failure between the two holes which were signatures to record the velocity. Because the model was
semi-confined, some emulsion explosives were found left between the two holes (by which the record result is zero)
in the groove after detonation. This find may demonstrate our assumption.
910 Li Bin et al. / Procedia Engineering 84 (2014) 906 – 912

3.2. The effect of cross section area and curvature radius

Cross section area and curvature radius are two major factors that influence propagation of detonation waves
supported by emulsion explosives. Results are shown in Table 3. Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 are two main trend diagrams
obtained from Table 3.
Table 3. Detonation velocities in different cross section area and curvature radius.

S D1-2 (m/s) ΔD2-7 (m/s)

(mm2) R=30mm R=35mm R=40mm R=45mm R=50mm R=30mm R=35mm R=40mm R=45mm R=50mm
112 2487 2456 2486 2479 2480 562 1090 1272 1302 1409

126 2505 2499 2543 2579 2537 770 1311 1504 1546 1602

140 2553 2603 2654 2661 2643 943 1681 1732 1756 1848

154 2667 2774 2778 2746 2776 1408 1855 1912 1879 1948

168 2802 2874 2876 2995 2906 1593 2050 2031 2023 2063

4000 R=30mm R=35mm

2800 S=112mm² S=126mm² R=40mm R=45mm
R=50mm Rc=30mm
S=140mm² S=154mm² 3500 Rc=35mm Rc=40mm
2400 S=168mm² Rc=45mm Rc=50mm

3000
2000
2500
D(m/s)

1600
D(m/s)

2000

1200
1500

800
1000

400 500

0 0
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 100 110 120 130 140 150 160 170 180

R(mm) S(mm2)

Fig. 5. Detonation velocities varied with R in different cross Fig. 6. Detonation velocities varied with S in different curvature
section areas. radii.
Fig. 5 gives an obvious trend that detonation velocities changed with the increase of curvature radii. In Fig. 5,
R=35mm was found as a critical point, below which there was a sharply raise of detonation velocity and after
surpassing, the trend seemed smoother. In any case of cross section area, this phenomenon was found similarly.
Fig. 6 showed a total increase of detonation velocities with the raise of cross section areas. In Fig. 6, dotted lines
meant the averaged velocities in curved parts of plate and solid lines represented velocities in straight parts. It was
obvious that velocities in straight parts had a smooth increase compared to a strikingly rise in curved parts, which
indicated that cross section areas had an more obvious effects on velocities in curved parts. There was another plot
that when Rc=30mm, the curve deviated from other curves, much lower, which confirmed that curvature radii had
important effect on velocity deficits in curved charge.
3.3. Comparing with former experimental results of conventional high explosives
Professor Wang Shushan [7] has some experiments to investigate the velocity deficits of conventional high
explosives, the results were as follows:
a refers to the length of one side of the square cross section, R is the curvature radius. Data in Table 4 showed the
percentages of detonation deficits.
 Li Bin et al. / Procedia Engineering 84 (2014) 906 – 912 911

Table 4. Detonation deficits with different values of a and curvature radii on high explosives [7].

R/mm
a/mm
3.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 15.0

0.8 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

1.0 N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.220 0.150

1.2 N/A N/A N/A 0.250 0.150 0.100

1.5 0.230 0.180 0.140 0.110 0.076 0.050

2.0 0.100 0.088 0.061 0.050 0.035 0.023

2.5 0.041 0.032 0.025 0.018 0.016 0.010

As Table 4 showed, when value of a was under 0.8mm, no matter what the curvature radius was, detonation
failure was found in the groove. It also indicated that detonation could be initiated even when curvature radius R was
as small as 3mm, while the value of a was big enough (1.5mm). The velocity deficit was calculated with equation
(D*-D)/ D*, in which D* was the detonation velocity in straight part of groove.
Compared with data of conventional high explosives, some data that close to critical condition are got to do some
discussion. The comparison results are summarized in Table 5.
Table 5. Velocity deficits with different values of cross section area and curvature radii.
R for Emulsion explosives (mm) R for Conventional high explosives(mm)
S/mm2 S/mm2
30 35 40 45 50 3 4 6 8 10 15
112 0.774 0.556 0.488 0.475 0.432 1.00 N/A N/A N/A N/A 0.220 0.150
126 0.693 0.475 0.409 0.401 0.369 1.44 N/A N/A N/A 0.250 0.150 0.100
140 0.631 0.354 0.347 0.340 0.301 2.25 0.230 0.180 0.140 0.110 0.076 0.050
154 0.472 0.331 0.312 0.316 0.298 4.00 0.100 0.088 0.061 0.050 0.035 0.023
168 0.431 0.287 0.294 0.325 0.290 6.25 0.041 0.032 0.025 0.018 0.016 0.010

In this discussion, R=30 mm, S=112 mm2 for emulsion explosives and R= 15mm, S=2.25mm2 for conventional
high explosive are fixed to be the critical conditions of velocity deficits, because in this two situations, the velocity
deficits can be found obviously and especially without failure.
Velocity deficits trend for two kinds of explosives are shown in Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 respectively. Fig. 7 showed the
effect of S and Fig. 8 illustrated the influence of R.
Fig. 7 and Fig. 8 gave clear views on relationships between velocity deficits and certain factors (cross section area
or curvature radius). Similar trends were found for both EE and CHE, but from the results obtained, there was a
wider range of R ratio and S ratio for EE. At the same level of velocity deficits, EE had a high ratio for each factor
than CHE, which meant velocity deficits can be detected much easier for EE than CHE. This phenomenon is not
hard to explain. EE is a kind of industrial explosives. Compared to CHE, the detonation velocity and power of EE
are much lower, due to longer reaction time. So it is more clearly that EE is easier to get failure than CHE, which
also means it has wider condition limit to find velocity deficits.

4. Conclusions

(1) Curved Groove in steel plate was used to study the corner effect of emulsion explosives. Obvious velocity
deficits are observed when detonation passes through the curved charge for emulsion explosive.
(2) When curvature radius was fixed, the velocity deficit effect strengthened with the decrease of cross section
912 Li Bin et al. / Procedia Engineering 84 (2014) 906 – 912

area. When cross section area was held constant, the detonation velocity deficit decayed at a greater extent as
curvature radius was reduced.
(3) Compared with conventional high explosives, results proved that corner effect was more obvious for
emulsion explosives than conventional high explosives.




(( &+(
(( &+(






R/Rc

S/Sc




 

 
         
*
(D -D)/ D *
(D*-D)/ D*

Fig. 7. Relationship trend between velocity deficits and growth rate Fig. 8. Relationship trend between velocity deficits and growth rate
of cross section area. of curvature radii.

References

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